New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-04-24
NEARLY TWO MILLIONS MELTED.
TURNING TRADE DOLLARS INTO BARS.


| TURNING TRADE DOLLARS INTO BARS.
HOW THEY ARE HANDLED At THE suD-TREAsURY
AND ASSAY OFFICE.
Two months ago tbcro were nearly 1'OjO,ooV tr"ao
dollars stored away in vaults and sac places oil over
the country by their luckless holders. worth only their
bullion value in silver and tor the ordinary uses OF
money without either credit circulation Yet with
the new law which requires them to be redeemed an"
remelted It looks as the coin collectors would soon
10 offering premiums for the big, dscreditcd 90
quickly they disappearing into the crucioes Oh inc
| Government Assay Ofhces. OF course more tnan
7COO 900 trade dollars in all we're coned-apout nVe
times that many. according to the estimates OF the
Treasury Department But the bulk Of the pieces got
across to China and the East Indies and never came
! back. Tho Chinese cut up good many lor Sinai
coins and what the other Asiac traders had could not
be remported after the sudden stoppage OF the circua
| ton here.
At oil events the Treasury officials say that there
vero not moro than 1000 900 In this country when
the exchanges and banks and railroads declared war
| on them In the spring of 1888 About 3,OOV.oOO OF
these have already been redeemed al the new IorK
Sub Treasury alone. Nearly 100000 more come in
daily hereto say nothing OF those received at the
other Sub Treasu ries and ut moderate estimate the
whole stock, boarded up 50 long, Will DC exhausted
| before summer time.
| The rush Mt the Ntw-York Sub.Treasury ls already
slackening little The first day the law went into
effect early in March, and for good many days after
limit had 70 be nut on the number OF silver pieces to
be received The clerks could not tcst and count more
| than 100 600 each day, and even then they had TO
stand knee-deep in the silver sometimes pushing the
big dollars of the receiving counters as last as tuey
| could be weighed. Some days to accommodate people
| who had come long distances with heavy loads OF
silver more than 100 900 taken in. For the last
fortnight tle daily return has sometimes fallen below
| 100 600 But the stream of these light weight dol
| lars, some battered and dirty some greasy ana
attained some as brand-newoo as the day they
we're mintcd, will not run much thinner probably,
| like other streams, before it goes quite Dry
At srst the coins we're merely shovelled into bags
and stored away in the SubTreasury vaults But tho
mass of silver soon grew unwicldy The vaults were
choaed and the drawers md cases OF the receiving
room were iammed each day to bursting So near the
| middle of March first instalment oil loo,Voo was
sent across The way to the Assay Office to be melted
And almost every dsy since 100 bags each with 1000
pieces in it, have been turned into the Government
| crucjbes Here the metal melts down ana pnrihes
itself of its baser alloys in the old dollar FORM And
when 1t ut the bubblng point it is run into mouids
and solidihes again In brick shaped silver bars OF
| standara fpeness Each 1000 dollars make o bar
| 200 ounces in weight. The bars themselves are
aerward tested and stamped and then stored away 10
boxes in the big safety vaults Many OF lncu alc sou
| to manufacturing jewellers at face vaue others are
kent "a sort of coin and still others are sent
away TO the minis to be turned back into egateDder
sill ser dollars into smaller fractional currency
| Tho New-York Assay Office could melt several hun
dred thousand dollars every day. II necessary AS II
ia there Is 80 much other work constantly on hand
that scarcely 800 900 of the dsuscd pieces are turned
into bars a week. Three tour men have been de-
| tailed specially to work on the trade dollars They
first 60 over them again carefully, getting an even
600 in each box, and then turn the boxes out INTO
the small crucibes. The little furnaces In the Wall
at section Of the Assay Office used. and there
little to make think OF big garng, dirty ioun
dry, with its dusty smoke and pungent gases IN 'ht
LIGHT clean we'll ventilated where the boxes o.
coins-dul for the most part no are pled neatity
one ON another and the furnace just foot or two Oh
looks no formidable with its covers on tnah al
everyday cooking range. The mouldtrs lift the caps
of the crucbles of and then and one can see th'
| white metal bubbng and sirnmerln2 WITHIN. some
of the topmost dollars only halt melted, the Dig
souare winged eagle on the reverse or the image Of
Commerce Sn the diverse. showing in liant, wayerna
lines. The small cruciblesiul melt quickly, ana a.
each reaches the proper fluid state IT is turned owe
into the brick shaped moulds. Here the metal coo
TO solid almost instantly and IS shaken out in bar
and blocks OF varou. sizes. The trade dollars, o
course do not make the clear whtish bars that ont
sees living about melted down from the pure silver ore
Some of the bricks dirty, almost lcaden, in colo
little difference in fact however All tx bars are VI
to the average legal Anencss s9eio TO ooo parts
!, LOCO
ave have received up to April TO-" said Nj. Mason
the director OF the Assay Office, about 2,OOO,OO
trade dollars Over 100000 have already bee
, melted We try to have not more thai 100000 OF
hand at ans one time. The SubTreasury people kee
several hundred thousand ahead Of us. The rus
seems to be over now and as there is no demand TO
the silver bullion the minis and the Treasury o
, Washington being ovcrstocked with 1t already, W
need not be in a hurry to melt the trade dollars 1t
only matter OF storage at present. big bag-u o
, coins is much more unwieldy and cumbersome tina
halt q dozen metal bars. -
do not think that the country will have TO redeem
the whole trade dollar coinage after all Four.ilfth
OF it got across to China and much OF IL was mutate
there even after it began to circulate little here
r The trade dollars were never meant 10 pc used
currency here II was through slip at the San Fran
a cisco Mint l think, that they first got out; IN
: Chinese have been using them all along though the
we're tabooed here Not than 300, 200 have bee
, returned so far for redemption don't think that
j, shall be troubled with many millions from tha
t quarter 1t would be good speculation. however,
one could pick up lot OF trade dollars over there 10
their bullion value. and have them redeemed here
their iaoe value. The diAerebce on each piece woui
/; be about "a cents.
"The people who bought the trade dollars here fou
years ago so and 50 cents have lost all their prot
by the delay Of Congress in passing the bill to redeei
10 tile coinage Few spectators, however have turne
in many dollars here. The great bulk came. thDl
from merchants and ban King concerns and were take
Ii originally without discount. Many tradesnen 50
70 Chance to make customers by offering to take tn
n scant coins at iull value for merchandise"